After taking a 2-1 lead, the Carolina Mudcats fell back before losing to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 6-2. Carolina starter Shawn Morimando pitched six innings of four-hit, two-run ball, but the bullpen did him no favors as Rob Nixon pitched just two-thirds of an inning and gave up three hits and four runs. Carolina finished the game with 11 hits but three errors.

Whether he is staring down a 90 mph fastball or raucously rooting for his Cleveland sports teams, Anthony Gallas has always taken things pitch-by-pitch and day-by-day. While his path to greatness hasn’t always been clear, this approach has taken him and his Carolina Mudcats to new heights. The IBI's Daniel Kale recently caught up with Gallas and talked to him about his big season, his return from injury and more.

In today's massive-sized Minor Happenings that is well over 5000 words, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at how outfielder Tyler Naquin continues to improve every area of his game and really has just one question mark remaining and how he is working to answer that. He also provides a ton of quotes from Ross Atkins on players like Adam Plutko, Anthony Gallas, Francisco Lindor and others, takes a look at second baseman Claudio Bautista and why he is a prospect to keep an eye on, provides details into Robbie Aviles’ turnaround this season, and provides lots of news, insight and analysis on players like Frank Herrmann, Gabriel Arias, LeVon Washington, Dorssys Paulino and others.

The Columbus Clippers were on national television Thursday night, but the best story on the farm came from Ryan Merritt. The left-hander continued to impress in 2014 as he dominated in a unique way given the trends of today's game. In addition to Merritt, Lake County starter Dace Kime furthered his case that his early struggles are behind him, the Columbus bullpen essentially had open tryouts for the majors, Anthony Santander got two-thirds of Lake County's hits (not in a good way), and much more. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and takes you Around the Farm.

Ryan Merritt and the Carolina Mudcats ended a recent slump by beating the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-2 on Thursday morning. A three-run fourth inning and another pitching gem from Merritt paved the way to victory for the Mudcats.

Things were not as crazy down on the farm Wednesday as they were at Progressive Field, but there were still plenty of interesting things goings on. Headlining the night was outfielder -- which is still a little weird to write -- Dorssys Paulino, who has returned to Lake County swinging well. He was joined by Tyler Naquin continuing his hot streak, Clayton Cook's first game in 25 months, and much more. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down and takes you Around the Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats lost both games of a double header against the Wilmington Blue Rocks Wednesday. The first game ended with a 9-4 Wilmington victory, while the Blue Rocks came from behind to win 3-2 in game two. Carolina found itself up 2-0 going into the sixth inning of a seven-inning game, but gave up three runs in the final two frames to take the loss.

The normal comforts of home were not had by the Carolina Mudcats this past week as they struggled to just a 1-4 record before traveling to Wilmington for the start of a three game set and dropped the first game. The IBI's Zachary Francis recaps the week that was for the Carolina Mudcats, gets us caught up with Ryan Merritt's nice season to date, and highlights all of the important news and notes for the team.

D.J. Brown and the Carolina Mudcats lost 8-4 to the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Tuesday night in the first game of a three-game road trip. The Mudcats simply couldn't keep up with the Blue Rocks offensively as they fell behind and never recovered.

The IBI Hot List showcases the Top 15 performances from the previous seven days as well as the Bottom 5 performances over the past seven days, and includes insight, information and more on each player listed. Today’s listing includes 20 players and over 2500 words, and highlights players such as Jordan Milbrath, Giovanny Urshela, Todd Hankins, Robbie Aviles, Eric Haase, Cody Anderson and many others.

The Carolina Mudcats made a three-run second inning hold up as they snapped a season-high four-game losing streak in a 3-1 victory over the Salem Red Sox on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Mudcats brought their record on the season back to .500 (20-20).

The WAR Room is back again, bringing you the 2014 advanced stats for every Cleveland minor leaguer. After looking at the hitters last week, today we focus on the pitchers. It is still early enough that there is some noise in the numbers, but at this point in the season, we are starting to see some interesting trends emerge. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down, including Adam Plutko's dominance of the Midwest League, a look at some straggling RubberDucks, and much more.

The Carolina Mudcats dropped a close one, 4-3, to the Salem Red Sox on Saturday night in front of 4,248 boisterous fans at Five County Stadium. It was the fourth straight loss for the Mudcats, who fell below .500 for the first time all year. Pitcher Cole Sulser picked up his fourth loss – with no wins – so far this season.

An All-Star in 2012, Bryan LaHair should be in Columbus as he works his way back toward the major leagues. Circumstances have him playing in Akron, however, which was a good thing for the RubberDucks Friday night. The first baseman led the RubberDucks to a win in extra innings in addition to headlining the night on the farm. Join Arthur Kinney as he analyzes LaHair's night and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

In this week’s edition of Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the impressive showing this month from Low-A Lake County infielder Paul Hendrix and provides some insight and information as to what kind of prospect he is, where his strengths lie, and whether he can keep up his torrid play. He also takes a look at Low-A Lake County right-handed pitcher Adam Plutko who is having an exceptional pro debut, provides a ton of injury updates with some news of some prospects who could be on the move today, and a lot of information on players such as Justin Sellers, Tyler Sturdevant, Torsten Boss, Eric Haase and others!

No matter how often we see that April stats have little predictive use for the rest of the season, it is hard not to react to someone's extreme highs or lows out of the gate. Following about as bad of an April as you can see, it was easy to pile on Ronny Rodriguez. But Rodriguez's recent hot stretch is yet another reason why we cannot make any profound judgment on April stats. Join Jim Piascik as he writes about Rodriguez's powerful day, Tyler Naquin hitting the ball hard, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Carolina Mudcats fell short in a comeback attempt Wednesday, and ended up losing the game to the Lynchburg Hillcats, 5-3. Jeremy Lucas, Erik Gonzalez and Todd Hankins each had two hits, but the Hillcats finished off opportunities when it counted. Starter D.J. Brown lasted 6.2 innings, but gave up five runs on 11 hits.

This week, the Carolina Mudcats managed a 4-3 record, with two victories against both Lynchburg and Salem. Carolina also dropped two games to the Red Sox and one to the Hillcats. The IBI's Zachary Francis recaps the week that was for the Mudcats and recently sat down to get Anthony Gallas' thoughts on his Player of the Week award and how his season is going.

The Carolina Mudcats torched the Lynchburg Hillcats 13-5 on Tuesday afternoon behind a season-high 13 runs. Carolina poured in seven runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win and derail the Lynchburg comeback attempt.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!